[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 74 (Thursday, May 20, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S5733]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HEALTH AND THE AMERICAN CHILD

  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, yesterday I met with former Secretary of 
Health and Human Services Louis Sullivan, who now chairs the 
prestigious Public Health Policy Advisory Board (PHPAB). Dr. Sullivan 
presented to me their new report entitled ``Health and the American 
Child: A Focus on the Mortality Among Children.''
  I was immediately struck by the fact that the findings of the PHPAB 
report underscore both the need for the legislation we are debating 
here today and the tremendous importance we must place on prevention 
efforts so that we can reduce unnecessary deaths of our Nation's youth.
  According to ``Health and the American Child,'' in the past two 
decades, two causes of child death have dramatically increased--
homicide and suicide, which account for 14% and 7% respectively of all 
deaths for children under age 19. In teenage black males, the levels 
are so striking that the report uses the term ``epidemic'' to describe 
an eight-fold increase in homicide rates among African American youth, 
now their number one cause of death.
  ``Homicide and suicide, the greatest new risks to children's health 
today, require both heightened preventive action as well as research 
into children's mental health and the social fabric in which they grow 
and develop.'' And that is precisely what we have been talking about 
during our debate on S. 254.
  The PHPAB report goes on to define the contributing risk factors 
associated with mortality in children. Homicide and suicide, as the 
major killers of our children, are most closely associated with 
firearms, drug and alcohol use, and motor vehicles. These significant 
increases in both morbidity and mortality among our youth must be 
addressed and demand aggressive preventive action on our part.
  I commend ``Health and the American Child'' to my colleagues and 
would be glad to make it available to any Senators who care to have the 
benefit of its considerable findings. ``Health and the American Child'' 
is really a call to action. It shows so dramatically why this bill we 
are debating today is important, and why we must set partisan rhetoric 
aside to get this legislation passed and enacted.

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